6th September 2023 – INCATE (the INCubator for Antibacterial Therapies in Europe) has successfully reached its two-year milestone, boasting an impressive array of achievements. With a direct contact to over 180 startups and initiatives, a thriving portfolio of 24 ventures (and more in the pipeline), and valuable partnerships that have propelled the project forward, INCATE stands as a beacon of progress in its field.

“INCATE stage I was integral to validating our technology and business model. We would not have been so well prepared to transfer out of an academic setting without INCATE. To be selected as the first team to win stage II is a confirmation of our potential to build a successful company.” Patrick Grossmann, CEO Invitris GmbH

“Innovation in the antibacterial space is of utmost importance and we very much value the support INCATE is providing to the antibiotics discovery community. With their help, academic groups translate their ideas and concepts into spin-offs and young startups strengthen their portfolio. Over the last years, the team successfully connected early inventors with different partners and we saw good progress and the growing impact of their innovative ventures.” Rusudan Okujava, Principal Scientist at Roche.

Launched in August 2021, INCATE has been committed to its mission to bolster early stage innovators in the Antimicrobial Resistance field. By providing advice, community, and non-dilutive funding, the project empowers entrepreneurs to construct compelling business propositions and compile the evidence requisite to attract investors.

INCATE was contacted by over 180 start-ups and projects, gathering more than 80 applications. The establishment of a robust pipeline for new ventures has been a hallmark accomplishment, along with furnishing essential support to 24 ventures at Stage I. The current portfolio of Stage I ventures comes from 15 countries so far, with over half not founded as companies when they first contacted INCATE. The technologies selected include traditional direct acting small molecules and peptides but also phages, anti-virulence and other technologies. Notably, one of these ventures moved forward to Stage II in January 2023. At present, the landscape includes some INCATE ventures that have achieved the coveted “investable stage” status, successfully securing equity investment and forging impactful collaborations. This includes Smartbax, Invitris. There will be further Stage II Investments at end of 2023 and during 2024.

INCATE’s influence extends beyond its direct initiatives to supporting the AMR Community. INCATE organized the Start-up Pitch event at the AMR Conference 2022 and 2023 in Basel and added a poster prize In 2023. INCATE has also contributed at numerous conferences including ECCMID and ESCMID/ASM in 2022 and has hosted webinars as part of the INCATE entrepreneurs club and also as co-host with role in a GARDP REVIVE. INCATE earned the distinction of a “unique role” in the European Commission’s report on medical countermeasures and played a vital role in the WHO pre-clinical pipeline report in 2023.

2023 marks, as well, the beginning of another great milestone as INCATE’s supporting partner Leibniz Association invested €1m in the project, which has allowed the team to grow and become even more focused on assisting innovators in this fight against the silent pandemics .

The INCATE support model has proven value for early stage ventures and will continue to expand to new geographies and deepen our ties with existing and new partners. We look forward to supporting more innovators in their fight against drug-resistant bacterial infections.

About INCATE

INCATE is a not-for-profit partnership which brings together translational and basic research, industry, experienced entrepreneurs and investors from across Europe and beyond. The German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), the research association InfectControl in Germany, the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research AntiResist, the University of Basel and the Leibniz-HKI are the academic founding members of INCATE with the University of Basel as virtual host. Together with the four industry partners Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Shionogi and MSD as well as other organizations, funders and investors, INCATE want to ensure that the pipeline of new antibiotics and diagnostics is filled and strengthened.

Contact: Douglas.haggstrom@incate.net or +41799542252

www.incate.net

X and Linkedin: @INCATEurope